Best CDs of 2006 Songs of the Year: Top 10 CDs of 2006 December 25, 2006 • Song of the Day editor Stephen Thompson listened to thousands of albums in 2006 before settling on these 10 frequently overlooked favorites.
Review Song Of The Day Estrangement Gets a Lilting Makeover December 1, 2006 • Damien Jurado has experimented with everything from rollicking rock to electronic beats to found sound, but his stock in trade remains painfully intimate folk music. Traversing barren and dusty acoustic hellscapes, Jurado makes music that seems painstakingly constructed for consumption at 4 a.m. 'Denton, TX' by Damien Jurado Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6562590/6562672" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
'Denton, TX' by Damien Jurado Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6562590/6562672" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Review Song Of The Day 'Our Hell': Making Misery Beautiful November 24, 2006 • On her first solo album, Knives Don't Have Your Back, Emily Haines writes stripped-down folk songs that sound as catchy as they are doomstruck. The Metric singer purges personal and political demons through dark, minor-key melodies and glorious arrangements. 'Our Hell' by Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6520743/6524865" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
'Our Hell' by Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6520743/6524865" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Music Lists The Best, Worst and Weirdest in Holiday CDs November 22, 2006 • Every year brings a flood of new holiday CDs, and with good reason: They're quick and easy to make, most if not all of the songs have already been written, and they get reissued practically every year. From Sufjan Stevens to Twisted Sister to The Chipmunks, here's a look at 2006's holiday crop. The Best, Worst and Weirdest in Holiday CDs Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6527454/6608007" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
The Best, Worst and Weirdest in Holiday CDs Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6527454/6608007" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Review Song Of The Day Ruminations on Bridges Burned and Backs Turned November 15, 2006 • Karen Dalton's In My Own Time sounds nicely fleshed out in the studio, as it showcases the singer's ability to interpret standards amid lush arrangements. But it's no surprise that the set's crown jewel is also its most haunting track: "Katie Cruel," on which Dalton gives a traditional lament its definitive reading. 'Katie Cruel' by Karen Dalton Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6488736/6488773" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
'Katie Cruel' by Karen Dalton Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6488736/6488773" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Review Song Of The Day Damien Rice: From a Whisper to a Scream November 10, 2006 • Rice's music demands close attention: Whether he's singing in an aching whisper or yelling amid strings and other pomp (often in the same song), he's a nuanced performer who isn't afraid to lay his feelings bare. "Elephant" finds him carrying on in top form, in an epic ballad that showcases his considerable emotional and vocal range. 'Elephant' by Damien Rice Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6464392/6464401" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
'Elephant' by Damien Rice Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6464392/6464401" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Review Song Of The Day A Powerful Look at an Imaginary Tragedy October 26, 2006 • Okkervil River takes on a daunting challenge in a new song making the rounds as an MP3 download: It looks at the impact of a horrific event — in this case a presidential assassination — that hasn't actually taken place. 'The President's Dead' by Okkervil River Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6381913/6381938" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
'The President's Dead' by Okkervil River Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6381913/6381938" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Review Song Of The Day Teitur's Soundtrack to Pleasant Dreams October 19, 2006 • "Don't Want You To Wake Up" is almost stridently good-natured, with Teitur extolling the virtues of watching a lover sleep amid strummed acoustic guitars and subtly breezy strings. The track never accelerates beyond an agreeable amble, but it isn't about momentum anyway. 'Don't Want You To Wake Up' by Teitur Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6301416/6301440" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
'Don't Want You To Wake Up' by Teitur Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6301416/6301440" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Review Song Of The Day Channeling Patsy Cline, by Way of Neko Case September 26, 2006 • Sera Cahoone has played drums for Band of Horses and Carissa's Wierd (sic), two groups whose music can be majestically beautiful, wrenchingly powerful or both. None of their output, however, provides reason to expect Cahoone's solo work to drift into territory as soothing as her gorgeous, breezily hypnotic "Couch Song." 'Couch Song' by Sera Cahoone Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6142022/6142031" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
'Couch Song' by Sera Cahoone Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6142022/6142031" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Review Song Of The Day A Would-Be Icon's Words of Hard-Won Hope September 6, 2006 • During a hiatus from The Frames, Glen Hansard recorded The Swell Season with Czech singer Marketa Irglova, and the result aches and swoons behind lovely arrangements. A longtime master of sublimely melodramatic sad-bastard music, Hansard finds words of hard-won hope and comfort on "Falling Slowly." 'Falling Slowly' by Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5770421/5770430" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
'Falling Slowly' by Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5770421/5770430" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Review Song Of The Day Homey Intimacy, Soaked in Strings August 31, 2006 • Often recalling the rustic delicacy of Iron and Wine — if it were soaked in strings and robbed of some of its stark clarity — Horse Feathers' music radiates homey intimacy, as Peter Broderick fleshes out Justin Ringle's voice and guitar with all manner of warmly unamplified instrumentation. 'Hardwood Pews' by Horse Feathers Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5737243/5737306" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
'Hardwood Pews' by Horse Feathers Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5737243/5737306" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Review Song Of The Day Music for the Morning After, and Beyond August 24, 2006 • Musicians often chronicle the anguish, adjustments and small triumphs associated with a relationship's end. But few capture the emotional rawness and suffocating isolation quite as powerfully as Lisa Germano's "Too Much Space." 'Too Much Space' by Lisa Germano Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5698627/5698725" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
'Too Much Space' by Lisa Germano Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5698627/5698725" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
